T. V. Somanathan

The deficiencies in the capability of the state to design and implement effective policies are arguably the biggest development challenge facing developing countries like India. This book seeks to assess state capability in India, identify weaknesses in policy design and programme implementation, and their causes, and propose some measures to remedy them. Importantly, it does so while recognizing political economy constraints and focusing predominantly on the administrative contributors. To this extent, the book's suggestions are practical enough for adoption by stakeholders at different levels. It describes the institutional design, constitutional provisions, the organizational structure, and the personnel of the Indian state. It covers a wide spectrum of aspects impacting state capability, ranging from ideological narratives and systemic constraints to procedural and personnel management issues to the behaviours and attitudes of individual bureaucrats. It offers a new analytical framework to think about effectiveness of state on the policy-making process. It also offers a nuanced perspective and suggestions on many of the popular themes in public administration - size of the state, generalist and specialist debates, lateral entry, digital monitoring systems in governance, outsourcing and private participation, use of consultants, risk aversion in bureaucracies, performance-based incentives, programme evaluations, and so on. Finally, being participants and observers in the bureaucratic system, the authors describe reality without always seeking to locate it in the framework of existing academic literature, thereby offering fresh insights and enriching the discourse on state capability.

This book provides a comprehensive but concise treatment of the subject of Derivatives. It focuses on making essential concepts accessible to a wider audience. The book eschews complicated mathematics and high school level mathematics is sufficient to understand it. It describes and explains various derivative instruments, their use and pricing, and the functioning of derivative markets. It uses a large number of examples to elucidate concepts and illustrate their real-life application. A distinguishing feature of the book is that it goes beyond the narrow perspective of derivative traders and investors and takes a broader approach which enhances its appeal to a range of readers. This book will be useful for students in the fields of economics, econometrics, derivatives, and finance and financial professionals, bankers and investors.

This book provides a comprehensive but concise treatment of the subject of Derivatives. It focuses on making essential concepts accessible to a wider audience. The book eschews complicated mathematics and high school level mathematics is sufficient to understand it. It describes and explains various derivative instruments, their use and pricing, and the functioning of derivative markets. It uses a large number of examples to elucidate concepts and illustrate their real-life application. A distinguishing feature of the book is that it goes beyond the narrow perspective of derivative traders and investors and takes a broader approach which enhances its appeal to a range of readers. This book will be useful for students in the fields of economics, econometrics, derivatives, and finance and financial professionals, bankers and investors.

While most books on derivatives discuss how they work, this book looks at the contributions of derivatives to overall economic well-being. It examines both the beneficial and adverse effects of derivatives trading from the perspectives of economic theory, empirical evidence and recent economic history. Aiming to present the concepts in a fair, non-ideological, non-mathematical and simple manner, and with the authors' own synthesis, it draws on economic insights from relevant work in other disciplines, particularly sociology and law. The book also presents some new theoretical ideas and recommendations towards a pragmatic and practical approach for policy-makers. The ultimate objective is to provide a basic conceptual framework which will help its readers form a judgement on whether, when and how derivatives are beneficial or harmful to the economy.